Double Helix
by madelinear
Summary: Helix: A nonplane curve whose tangents are all equally inclined to a given plane. The common helix is the curve formed by the thread of the ordinary screw. It is distinguished from the spiral, all the convolutions of which are in the plane.


Double Helix  
By Sugar Princess_  
_

  
  
  
  


With one glass- you get the truth  
With more- you get but lies.  
-Ad for Green Fairy Absinthe  


  
Lies may be truth, and truth may be lies.   
  
What might be someone's truth may not necessarily be another's. That's just the order of the universe. No one has the same truths and beliefs and issues; it's not the way the world works. Religious people would say it's because God made us all unique, but being in the Underworld for as long as I have makes you cynical and Godforsaken.   
  
That too, is another universal order. Religion is lost rather quickly here: the holy who are brought here feel as though God has forgotten them. Perhaps He has. Just ask that Priest outside the city gates. Listen to him, you fools. Turn away from this village of sin. It can and will only bring you down.  
  
Cynical: yes. Everyone here is. It's hard not to be. A metaphor for truth is light. Maybe that, in some flawed, twisted way, is why the truth is not here. We live in the underworld, in the shadows of what is considered good society. Darkness reigns. Light is usually a trick. We are but the forgotten masses.   
  
We are contradictory of our own revolution. Truth is nonexistent. Beauty is fake and can be painted on, or stuffed in, or laced up. Freedom is an illusion. Love is a trap.  
  
We all live a helix here- twisted lives riddled with lies and hatred. Lies whispered into the ears drunken men who pay well; hatred of those who get paid better.  
  
Most of us are hardened. We are but one helix- matching helixes, with hatred and doubt and suspicion and jealousy. One helix, many bodies. We are all the same.  
  
She wasn't. She- our little bundle of contradictions- was a double helix. The first was that like ours- corrupted, evil. Festering. The other was good and pure. Glorious.  
  
The people of the Underworld have a knack for destroying that. If you have it, your purity is lost forever. A soul is unnecessary; a heart useless. You do your job without complaints: you admire, you praise, you squeal with delight. You accept presents with a false dignity.  
  
Whores have no real dignity. That too, is a worthless aspect of the human psyche.  
  
She ... she unearthed it, somehow. It came back. The girl actually _smiled_- a real smile; one without false brightness. It nearly blinded us gutter rats- most of us hadn't seen one in years.  
  
She was happy.  
  
We had- and still do- fooled ourselves into believing we were happy: we had a roof over our heads; good food; nice clothes; nice things; and a fun job. Think not of the hardships, and if you must, think of how much worse it would be to be out on the streets.  
  
That cute little writer did that to her.  
  
It wasn't fair. She the best of everything- clothes, food, quarters, men- why should she get love too? Why was she the lucky one? Why? Why? Why?  
  
Their love affair was not as fairy tale-ish as we thought it would be. The ending was tragic. Her lover was destroyed.  
  
For a few days, we mourned. Boo hoo, we lost Satine. Sob, weep weep- Hold up, we lost our main attraction. We need a new one, QUICK!  
  
We got a new Hindu courtesan. We had a few more performances before the Duke shut us down. We never liked him any way.  
  
We survived. We, like rats and cockroaches, survive these things.  
  
We are creatures of the underworld- our souls nothing but a helix of convoluted lies and hatred.  
  
Truth is rare where we come from- same as real truth, real beauty, real freedom, and real love.  
  
Double helixes are impossible.  
  
It's true- she was a diamond. And her soul was a diamond in the rough.  
  
A's N: Yeah, that sucked. It was a pretty sucky fic of mine. *cowers from threatening writers*  
  
A's N II: The Green Fairy thing is from a visionary version of the Green Fairy, and it was spelled out across the sky. If that's not the exact words, it a fact thereof. Please, don't nitpick.  
  



End file.
